THE appointment of Alhaji Abdullahi Dikko Inde as the Comptroller General of the Nigeria Customs Service,NCS, in August 2009, came at an auspicious time, given his pedigree and the  importance of NCS to the Nigerian economy. So far, the NCS helmsman has not betrayed the great expectations that trailed his appointment.

DIKO

In this interview with CustomsWatch Dikko disclosed that the service is on the road to self-restoration already. Dikko, who noted that e-payment has not been a challenge to stakeholders, stressed the need for 100 Examinations of certain imports.

“It is not enough to make such accusations. We need to go further and ask why Customs insist on 100 Examinations of certain imports.

It is because of the dishonesty of our importers. The more we have discrepancies in their declarations, the more the volume of declaration that will be routed to Red Channel.

We will strengthen our Post Audit Unit to ensure that Importers routed to Blue can be checked for compliance,”Dikko noted.
He also spoke on other issues.

Your appointment as head of Nigeria Customs, a year ago was seen as the dawn of a new era in the history of NCS, and with the benefit of hindsight, one year in the life of every administration is usually used to access the direction of such administration. Can you tell us how it has been so far?

I thank you very much. I will say it has been very challenging in the last one year, but we must thank God for his Grace to make it quite rewarding too. When we assumed office as a Management, our priorities were clearly articulated in a 6-point Agenda of action. One year on, I am happy we have made significant progress in achieving the goals set for ourselves.

As you may be aware, our topmost priority is the welfare of our officers and men. For years, the service has canvassed for improved remunerations similar to other Agencies of Government that perform revenue-related functions. Within this period, we thank God for having the grace to achieve this feat, which is unprecedented in service history. We got a hundred percent increase in salaries, for all officers and men with effect from January 2010, with all the arrears fully paid.

We have equally done well on the issue of capacity building. We got the approval of the Board for an upgrade of the Human Resource unit to a Department, headed by a Deputy Comptroller-General.  right from the inception of the Management, we had articulated  an elaborate training programme involving over 4,000 officers and men. We got the Service Providers to buy-in to the programme which has exposed them to Global Best Practices in Customs Operation at home and abroad.

Our processes and procedures have witnessed remarkable developments, with Electronic platform crated for manifest submission, Declaration by importers, Duty payment and duty remittance.

Have you justified the happiness that accompanied your emergence by those who said that your advent implies that “the era of injustice, delayed promotions, unfair postings, nepotism and favoritism as well as gender inequality in the Customs Service is over.”?

It is understandable that the coming of a new leader into any organization brings hope for people in any organization. It is human for them to expect a better deal in Welfare, Promotion, Accommodation and lots more. However, I am not sure that the Comptroller-General can solve all the problems of Customs.

I can only do my best, and leave the rest. So far so good; I have ensured fairness in all my decisions and policies as Comptroller-General. This can be seen from deployment of officers, Promotions, selection for courses and so on. Those who know me will also testify that my quest for fairness predates my tenure as Comptroller-General.

The image of this institution has over the years been battered by rampant allegation of corruption among officials. For instance the Nigeria Customs had at different times been named as one of the most corrupt government parastatals since its inception. What have you done to change this perception?

I will rather chose not to dwell in the past. I will prefer to concentrate on our efforts to address the public perception about the service. Now we have a corps of officers and men that are well-paid, and are highly motivated to do their job. We now have a situation of zero-percent tolerance to corruption. We now run a computerized system that minimizes human contacts and the environment for corrupt practices etc.

While we do all these, you may ask: people, who accuse us of corruption, have they changed their own altitude? Are our business men coming with clean hands, or looking for officers they can compromise?

A recurring accusation among terminal operators and agents is that the 100% examination of goods by the customs is responsible for the delay in clearing goods at the sea ports. Do you think anything could be done by the customs to address the issue?

It is not enough to make such accusations. We need to go further and ask why Customs insist on 100 Examinations of certain imports. It is because of the dishonesty of our importers.

The more we have discrepancies in their declarations, the more the volume of declaration that will be routed to Red Channel. We will strengthen our Post Audit Unit to ensure that Importers routed to Blue can be checked for compliance.

From inception, references were made to your days as a Comptroller at Seme Border, where you were given a target of N2.3 billion as collectibles. And you broke the records by exceeding the target by raking in N3.7 billion. With that, many expected much from you. Would you say that you have fared better in the area of revenue generation?

It is heart-warning to recall that I got my strategies right in Seme. Though it was an important part of my assignment in Seme, it is now even more important and crucial, more than ever before. Our salaries and other expenditure now depend on what we collect as revenue.

This is why we maintain a non-compromise stance on revenue. We have an Asycuda System in place that guarantees collection of maximum revenue. Our Clearance System has been reviewed to ensure the plugging of revenue leakages. For the first time in service history, we now have a system Alert, domiciled in Headquarters, to check infractions in the clearance system and block dubious transactions.

Banks, shopping companies, Customs Agents and even officers can be identified and sanctioned. Apart from live transactions, similar interventions, using the Customs Duty Investigations Teams yielded over N12 Billion Naira duty recoveries.

The revenue challenges as Comptroller-General are therefore more daunting and herculean. The stakes are higher, and those hell-bent in beating our system will always want to be un top of their game. I can assure you, we will always be ready for them. They are economic saboteurs. They will have no hiding place.

Beyond welfare, which officers and men have lauded you, it is believed that the ports and borders have become porous, has much been achieved in addressing this problem?

Our borders are known to be porous because of their nature: difficult terrain, cross-border social ties, no-clear cut demarcation and other factors.

In the past, we used our check-points in the hinterland to complement our border operations. Following public outcries however, we had to dismantle them and re-strategize. We are now going to make better use of our air border patrol unit, to conduct surveillance on areas where suspicious smuggling activities are reported. We are also intensifying the use of anti-smuggling campaigns to win the war of the mind, and reawaken Nigerians to the damaging effects of smuggling on our national economy, security and Public health

What should Nigerians expect to see you bring to the customs bearing in mind the enormous challenges facing the organization at the moment?

I think respect and integrity will rank high. Customs anywhere in the world is the engine room of economic development. We deserve to be respected. Our integrity must be resorted. We are on that road to self-restoration already. If other Nigerians join us to traverse this road, our economy will be better for it.

Agents have consistently complained that E-payment has created more confusion in the clearance procedure than it was meant to tackle, it takes more time to clear goods now than before it was introduced. What is your take on it?

I disagree with your views on e-payment. It is an IT based solutions to confront problems bedeviling our duty payment system. We had some teething problems at inception. That was why we rolled out in phases at some pilot locations. This is not totally unexpected for a project of such magnitude. Now we have gotten over those problems, and we are fully on course. From the pilot location in Apapa Port, we have now fully covered all the Commands in Lagos Area, the Eastern Ports and key Commands in the North.

Apart from Officers, other end users like Bankers and Importers have been trained, while Customs Agents have been sensitized on the operations and benefits of the new system. However, unscrupulous elements who benefitted illegally from the manual system must still find faults and complain.  We shall forge ahead despite their distractions.